First Christmas
by ravenclawprincess95
Summary: Part 11 of my series, Life With the Potters. It's been less than two months since Lily died, and yet Christmas still comes bringing with it unexpected visitors, and a happy surprise for James and Sirius. T-rating for some language.


_A/N: _Happy Holidays Everyone! I just wanted to put this story out there. I know it has been a while since I updated this little saga, but I hope everyone enjoys this newest, holiday themed installment. As always, reviews are loved.

Disclaimer: I don't know why I have to keep saying this, but nothing recognizable in here belongs to me. I just play with the characters.

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James rolled over in bed. He reached out his arm to his left and felt a cold empty space. Lily must have already gotten up to get Harry while he slept straight through. He didn't think anything of it for a moment, until some niggling part of his brain started to yell, '_You dunderhead! When has Lily ever been awake before you?' _

Groaning he sat up, and looked around, and suddenly, reality came flooding back. This wasn't his and Lily's room in Godric's Hollow. This was Sirius's house. Lily had been dead for just under two months, and, according to the calendar that Sirius had hung in his room to ensure that James didn't lose track of time (something that some girl he'd dated for two weeks had recommended to him once when Regulus had died), it was bloody Christmas.

James, swore under his breath. Understandably, wrapped up in grief, while trying to juggle his new found reality of being a single parent, Christmas had been the last thing on his mind. Harry had just started to talk in the last couple of weeks, and of course, his first word had been Mama. Sirius had assured him it was fairly common for his first word to be that, it was easy to pronounce, but it hadn't made it hurt any less. Lily would have been over the moon and halfway to Pluto with Harry's first word. Instead, she was lying cold underneath the dirt.

Because of his complete lack of awareness, he hadn't even thought to do a single thing about Christmas. That meant no gifts, no tree, no decorations of any kind. He rubbed his face with the palms of his hands, then reached for the clock. 6:28. '_Good.'_ He thought. '_Sirius won't be up for at least another two hours, and I can try to get something small together for Harry.'_

James stood up, and grabbed his robe from the hook on the door. Wrapping it around himself, he opened the door and crept out into the hallway. Taking care to be extra quiet, James snuck quietly past Sirius's room and then Harry's. With any luck, Harry would stay asleep for at least another hour so James could get something done. Even though he was small, Harry was starting to pick up on the world around him at an alarming rate. James felt like he was running in circles just to try to keep up.

As he made his way downstairs, he noticed that the lights were on in the living room. He walked down the hall, and turned into the living room entry to see Sirius dressed in the most outlandishly red outfit he'd ever seen, with bunny slippers on his feet, holding Harry in one arm, while levitating an ornament onto an enormous Christmas tree. "Now Harry, we have to be extra quiet, or else Prongs will wake up and we don't want to ruin the surprise for him."

James smiled. "Sorry mate, but I'm right here."

Sirius turned around. "You're supposed to be in bed!" He said petulantly.

James walked in the living room and took Harry from Sirius. "I've always been an early riser, and add a baby into the mix. The idea that I could sleep in is a long distant dream." James nodded to the tree. "How early did you get up to do all this?"

Sirius crossed his arms. "I have been up since four in the morning. I went out, got a tree, and all the things to make Christmas good, plus, presents for everyone. Especially the little one."

James shifted Harry over to his left side, and ran his hand through his hair, and looked slightly ashamedly to the ground. "I erm, sort of dropped the ball on Christmas this year, mate. I'm sorry about that."

Sirius walked over to James and pulled him into an embrace, clapping him on the back. "I didn't expect you to remember. I just wanted to make sure you had one decent day for the first time since..." He trailed off.

James pulled back, and wiped a tear from his eye. "We appreciate it." He said, and kissed the top of Harry's head.

Sirius clapped his hands together. "Right! Well, today is supposed to be a happy day, and I fully intend on making that happen. So, we just need to finish the tree, and then we can do presents!"

James chuckled. "You know, I don't think I remember seeing you this chipper before ten o'clock in the morning ever." He put Harry down. "You didn't happen to have a little bit of firewhiskey this morning by any chance with your coffee."

Sirius looked at James with mock outrage. "While watching my precious godson? The child the papers are all calling 'The Boy Who Lived?' Never!" Sirius spun dramatically and pulled an ornament out of a box, and hung it on the tree. Turning back to James, he flashed him a mischievous grin. "I took a small dose of cheering potion."

James laughed out loud at that, and put Harry down on the ground. "So that explains it."

"Getting up at four this morning to beat you and Harry out of bed was a bitch this morning. I don't know why anyone would do it willingly ordinarily." Sirius said, tossing Harry's stuffed stag to the toddler on the ground. "I will never do it again either, so Happy Christmas."

James snorted. "Mind your language, by the way. I don't want him picking up certain words before he's old enough to use them. And you know he's starting to talk."

Sirius looked down at Harry. "Shouldn't he be saying more words by now?" He asked.

James shrugged. "I wondered the same thing. When I took him to see a healer a few weeks ago, because I wanted a second opinion on that scar, I asked about the whole talking thing. The healer said that he was fine, and developing normally, but because of losing Lily, he might grieve in his own way as well. Which might mean he starts talking later. For all we know, he could be perfectly capable of talking already, but he's just not saying anything right now."

Sirius shook his head. "He's too young to be going through this. You both are."

James nodded. "If he's doesn't start talking more by spring, I'm going to get him some speech coaching. See if we can't draw more out of him. I'd love it if he'd say more than Mama though." Completely unaware of the conversations about him, Harry giggled, and shoved the stag into his mouth.

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. James and Sirius looked at each other confused. "Who is that?" Sirius asked.

"How should I know? You didn't invite anyone over this morning did you?" James asked.

Sirius shook his head. "No. I intended for Christmas to be the three of us."

James walked over and picked up Harry, sliding his wand out of his pocket, and holding it at the ready. Sirius held his wand in a similar fashion and went out into the hall toward the front door, James a few steps behind. When he reached the door, Sirius turned back and mouthed '_ready?'_ At James. James nodded. Sirius turned back and opened the door.

Standing on the landing, in severely worn down robes, and a shaggy haircut, stood Remus Lupin. James's wand arm dropped and he rushed to hug his old friend when Sirius unexpectedly threw his arm out, and growled, "Wait." James stopped, and Harry looked at Sirius with wide eyes, never having heard his godfather sound so menacing.

"Sirius, James." Remus started. "I just heard what happened. I went to Godric's Hollow, but you weren't there. Then I came here. Lily..." His voice cracked on her name.

Sirius stared at him darkly. "Lily was killed over a month ago. How come you're just hearing about it now?"

James tried to intervene. "Sirius, it's cold outside. And look at Remus. He's clearly not well. Let him come inside."

"No!" Sirius barked. He pointed his wand directly at Remus's chest. "He's been gone for almost a year. No note, no sign that he was alright. I want to know where the hell he's been before he steps one foot in this house."

"Sirius, he's our friend..."

"So was Peter, and he still sold you and Lily out to Voldemort." Sirius reminded him harshly. "So sorry if I'm a little weary of our supposed friends."

Remus, upon hearing Peter's name, gasped, and gripped the iron railing of the landing. "Peter was the one who told Him where they were hiding?"

Sirius looked at him with a hardened expression. "How did you not know that? It's been in every paper every day since Halloween."

Remus quivered. "I was sent on a mission by Dumbledore to try to recruit the werewolves to our side. It was given so quickly that I didn't have time to say goodbye to anyone. The werewolf community is generally mistrustful of normal magic society, so the fact that I had lived among it for so long had me at a slight disadvantage. In order to gain their trust, I had to completely cut myself off from everyone. The only one who I communicated with was Dumbledore, and it was only by me reaching out to him. News generally takes some time to filter through to the werewolves for that reason, so I had no idea what had happened until someone brought the new early this morning. I left as soon as I heard. I swear on my oath as a marauder." As he finished, he hung his head.

Sirius looked as though he was unwilling to believe the story. Then James spoke up from behind his arm. "When we first found out you were a werewolf what did we all say?"

Remus looked up, a hopeful expression on his face. "You told me that it didn't matter if I was a werewolf or a muggle, as long as I was a decent person, and a true friend. Sirius said that it was wicked cool, and asked if he could stick me on Snivellus, and Peter just said that it wasn't up to him to judge what I couldn't control."

James put his hand on Sirius's arm that was blocking the door. "It's alright Sirius. I believe him. Besides, it's freezing out."

Sirius let James gently push his arm down, and slowly moved out of the way to let Remus in the house. Once he was inside, Sirius shut the door, grabbed Harry out of James's arms, and stalked back into the living room.

Remus stared at the direction Sirius had gone. "He doesn't trust me."

James smiled sadly. "When Lily died, Sirius took us in no question. He found Harry still alive in his crib, and stood up to Dumbledore when he tried to take him from me, right after I found out he was alive. We've been here ever since. The only time I've left was to get Harry checked out, but Sirius hasn't demanded anything of us. But I know that he's hidden the Prophet from me, sent away visitors because I just haven't been ready, and has given the ministry the most information on Peter so that the aurors can try to catch him. He's been mine and Harry's salvation these last couple of months. Understandably, he's feeling very overprotective of both of us."

Remus looked at James concerned. "How have you been handling everything?"

"There are days when I don't even want to get out of bed. I just want to scream into the pillow that it should have been me and not Lily. If it weren't for all the calendars Sirius has hung all over the bloody house, I'd lose track of what day it was. Hell, I actually forgot that it was Christmas today. But then I pull myself out of bed, and I see Harry, and I'm just grateful I have him." James said sadly.

Remus placed a gentle hand on James's back. "I'm sorry for everything you've been going through. I can't even begin to imagine how you're feeling. And I'm sorry I haven't been here to help."

James nodded. Not looking at Remus, he said in a slightly choked voice, "We should get in there before Sirius teaches Harry all the swear words he can."

"I heard that!" Sirius yelled in an annoyed tone of voice.

Remus chuckled, and James called back, "Good!"

The two men walked back into the living room where Sirius sat on the floor with Harry. Sirius was holding Harry's stag just out of reach while Harry stood trying to grab it from Sirius's outstretched arms. "I know you want him to be a chaser like you James, but the boy is going to be a seeker. Can't catch to save his life, but wants everything that is just out of reach."

James shook his head. "Can't you just let him have the toy Sirius?"

Harry looked over towards his dad, and Remus. Losing interest in the game with Sirius he started to walk over towards them. James held his arms out and leaned down to pick up Harry, but Harry ignored him, and walked right into Remus's legs, and grabbed on to them tightly. He looked up at Remus's tired face, and said in a small voice, "Moomy?"

Sirius's jaw dropped, and James looked at Remus incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me?" James asked. He turned to look at Sirius. "He hasn't heard that name in months, and the second word he says is Moony! Not even Dad."

Remus meanwhile, had bent down and picked Harry up, and was letting Harry tug on his uncut hair. Harry then put one of his hands on Remus's face, and twisted to point his other small hand towards Sirius. "Pafoo!" He said loudly.

Sirius's face lit up. "Did you hear that?" He asked excitedly. "He knows who I am!"

Harry then turned Remus's face and pointed at James, and said "Prons!"

James's smile could have lit every tree in London with it's brightness. "Harry, say it again." He begged.

Harry giggled. "Prons!" He exclaimed. "Prons! Prons! Prons!"

James felt tears stream down his cheeks, but for the first time since Halloween, they weren't sad tears. He reached out for Harry, and Remus handed him over. Over Harry's head, as the toddler alternated between the three nicknames, he said, "Well, at least he knows the important words. I guess it is going to be a decent Christmas."

Just as he was about to kiss Harry's forehead, the toddler yelled out in a joyful tone, "FUCK!"

Remus slapped his face, and groaned.

James growled, "Sirius!"

And Sirius, well, Sirius just fell back, rolling on the floor laughing. "I don't think we have to worry about the whole talking issue anymore mate."


End file.
